Morrigan Songsheet

By sarahpavey, Jan 3 2016 01:05AM

The weather was pretty dismal in November and December in 2015 but Morrigan managed to spread a little festive cheer.

First a bit of a disaster struck in that Ros celebrating her significant birthday in Paris fell over and broke her ankle badly and ended up having an op and being confined to a wheelchair for a bit. However she did not let this interfere with our heavy gig schedule and was determined to take part. We managed to fulfil all our committments with a bit of ingenuity and heavy lifting from the boys!

We began at the end of November with the first of two National Trust gigs at Ightham Mote for their Christmas Fair. We dressed up in our steampunk outfits which we were using for the Dickens Festival in Rochester. We had a lovely time singing inside the ancient library of the House and had time to see the stalls outside too.

December began with the Dickens Festival in Rochester on Sunday 6th. The weather wasn't too bad but it was strange to see snow blowing out of the machines when it was about 12 degrees! We had several slots on the Star Hill stage interchanging with our friend Barry from Skinners Rats who depped for Doug Hudson in the afternoon. We drew a good crowd and the Italian Restaurant opposite was so enamoured with us singing in Latin they gave us some yummy free pasta! We also took part in the lunchtime and evening parades and ended up at the carol singing at the Castle.

The following day we headed out to Polesden Lacey for a lunchtime sing at their Christmas Fair. We were amazed at the crowd we drew and we managed to sell quite a few of our CDs.

In the evening we changed out of our steampunk outfits and rushed off to Nellies Folk Club in Tonbridge where we were given a fantastic welcome and it was lovely to see so many old friends. Doug Welch from Radio Kent;'s Folk Show was there and he had played the track Back Lane on his show the previous evening. Everyone sang along with our songs which created a great atmosphere. We certainly hope we can return again to this lovely and very friendly club.

On Friday 11th December we were supporting Martin Carthy at the Charlton House Wassail. It was good to see the Mock Tudor Band back in action albeit with a slightly changed line up. We sang through our Christmas repertoire including some new material and had a fantastic response. Martin Carthy was on excellent form and so overall it was a very good evening.

We rounded off the year on 13th December guesting at TwickFolk on a shared bill with Mike Scott. It was a lovely gig and again a really welcoming and friendly club and an amazing sound crew who gave us a brilliant sound. It was just a shame there were not more people attending but hopefully there will be more when we return in the summer.

So we now look forward to 2016 with some exciting events in the pipeline. We will not be doing a lot in January as we will be trying to record a second album while we wait for Ros's ankle to heal properly.

By sarahpavey, Feb 12 2015 12:11PM

The 4th January was a busy day for Morrigan both in reality and on the airwaves. We started the morning with a performance at St Christopher's Hospice in Sydenham, South London where we entertained both patients and their relatives ans staff over lunch. We received a warm welcome from everyone and applause after every song or tune. We were rewarded with a much appreciated roast dinner and look forward to returning to this venue.

In the evening we were invited to visit Cheam Folk Club and felt honoured when asked to perform an additional slot by a couple of singers who said they would rather hear us than sing themselves! This is such a friendly club and is really inclusive with lots of participation from everyone in both tunes and songs. We will definately be back here before too long.

BBC Radio Kent also played one of the songs from our CD "As the crow flies" - The January Man on Doug Welch's Folk Show that same evening - we caught it using the listen again feature.

A few days later on the 8th January we ventured across the Thames to Loughton Folk Club where we were supporting Thursday's Band with Mark Gamon. We had two spots - one in each half - and the songs seemed to go down well as we sold some CDs afterwards. Again this was a lovely club, very friendly with a tradition of singing "Take your Glasses to the Bar" at the end. We were surprised by a last minute request to lead this in 4 part harmony to the tune of Will Ye No Come Back Again - so popular that we were asked to do it twice!!!

The following Sunday we had our annual visit to the Greenwich Pleasaunce for their wassail celebrations annointing the fruit trees in the orchard with cider. It was cold but luckily sunny when we did our spot. We drew a crowd and sold an amazing number of CDs at the end. We stayed on for the procession but the cold and by now overcast sky meant we left to find some hot food and sadly we missed the afternoon performances.

...and so on to February and practice for our forthcoming return visit to The Cheshire Cheese with the Brandenburg Fringe. We are looking forward to meeting up with the Academix again and newcomers Treblemakers at this venue. It is quite small so do book in advance if you want to come and see us.